Such a beautiful weekend here in NZ! It's Waitangi weekend but unfortunately we don't get a holiday this year due to the day falling on a Sunday. Darn it! But it was a beautiful sunny day here in Auckland and I was just grateful to get out and about without worrying about the rain!

Doug and I decided to take a lil ride around the bays this morning and it was soo picturesque. We went in the morning to try and avoid the midday heat - which we did. I was glad coz all afternoon it was incredibly muggy. Reports suggested around 80% :S

Anyway I got this software a few months back that enhances your photos and I bought it because I don't have a full version of photoshop yet and just wanted to experiment with post processing in a different program. It's quite fun but the adjustments can seem a little too "fake" for my liking but it is quite fun to see what you can do with it. You can adjust the sliders to reduce how fake or realistic you want a photo too look so I tend to not just use the preset, but tweak it.

It works with iPhoto also which makes it really easy and fast. (I like) The program is called Adjust by TopazLabs. The reason I couldn't use it for a couple of months was because it kept crashing on me. So I emailed the support crew at Topaz Labs and they gave me a different version to download which seemed to fix the problem which I was really happy with =) I only use a couple of the functions on it so I don't know if I would recommend anyone to go out and purchase it. But if you do like to enhance your photos alot or like to make your photos look like paintings, there are a few options you might enjoy.

Anyway here are a few photos I've been taking this weekend.. really been enjoying the sunshine and I think I got a lil tan!! wow go Kirsten haha (whitey). I did use the program on all of these to give them a lil pop. By the way these are all taken on my compact =)

So I have really been waaaay too slack on this blog!!! I want to try and make this blog a little more personal this year and maybe just get back to what I really love and that's capturing and sharing memories. I don't know, I think I tried to be all formal with this but hey I don't know if that's me.. haha so I might take this lil blog of mine in a new direction this year. Gonna work on a new layout when I get the chance and start posting more! Maybe more often but not as loooong. :P

I just got back from the warehouse tonight after buying yet another photo album. I just love filling it with all my favourite photos taken over the months. And as I do this, I just happen to glance over old ones. There's just something about having something tactile to hold and look at. Memories in a book - I LOVE IT!! "oh remember that time?" "oh look how young we look!!"

Anyway here are a few memories from New Years 2011 that I've filed carefully away.. The fireworks were just amazing this year (click here to compare with last year!).. I think that it sets the tone for what's to come in 2011.. onwards and upwards NZ =)